A total of 945 Community Protection Assistants (CPAs) have completed a three-week training at the Police Training School in Ho.
They were made up of 322 trainees from the Volta Region, 147 from the Oti Region and 477 from the Eastern Region.
The CPAs were taken through police ethics, community policing, crime management and customer care, intelligence gathering, criminal law, traffic management and practical police duties.
The Volta Region Minister, James Gunu, said at the graduation ceremony earlier this month that the training of the CPAs was a demonstration of the government’s commitment to youth development, job creation and national security.
He commended the National Youth Employment Agency (YEA) for the impactful initiative and the Ghana Police Service for the professional support to the programme.
“What we witnessed today is a product of strategic collaboration for the betterment of our communities and the empowerment of our youth,” he added.
Mr Gunu said the government of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) had prioritised the creation of sustainable jobs and youth empowerment as key pillars of national transformation.
Living testimony
In that regard, he said, the CPAs were a living testimony of what happened when policy met purpose.
“The CPAs are also symbols of hope to their families, communities and the nation at large,” he said.
The regional minister urged the CPAs to serve with humility, integrity and professionalism at their duty posts.
“Uphold the values of discipline, respect and community engagement, and let your presence inspire confidence in the public,” he also told the CPAs.
The Volta Regional Director of the YEA, Daniel Hamenu, said the agency had a strategic objective of recruiting a total of 12,000 CPAs this year, to support the Ghana Police Service to increase visibility in the communities and to maintain law and order.
He reiterated that the CPA was collaborating with the Ghana Police Service to explore the possibility of absorbing CPAs into the police service after serving their two-year contract.
Mr Hamenu urged the CPAs to demonstrate honesty, dedication and sacrifice in the performance of their duties.
What would have been a colourful passing-out ceremony was, however, skipped for a solemn formality as a result of the recent helicopter crash, which killed five government officials and three military personnel.
